Jim B said:
I got the idea from the Bible, Q.
Imagine that!
What if I said, I have no understanding where the modern day church got the idea that a woman has to have the same calling as her husband. Sad, really sad.
That would be kind of insulting, wouldn't it?
As much as I agree with you on most things, Q., we could not be farther apart on this one.
I can say confidently that there is no scripture none, zero, zip, zilch,nada - to support your position. And furthermore, there is no NT precedent in the ministries and marriages of anyone in the NT. Peter had a wife, who often traveled with him but there is no hint that she in any way participated in his calling. She simple was his wife. The same is true of James and the other apostles (1 Cor. 9.5). The only exception to this would be Priscilla and Aquilla, but in this case it appears, especially since her name always precedes his, that the calling was hers as much than his, if not more so. Apparently Peters (and the other apostles for that matter) wife did not share his calling and did not participate in the ministry to which he alone was called (Matt.4.18-20).
My home church ordained me. In doing so, my wife stood with me at the ceremony, but she does not feel ordained and continues her occupation as a cad technician. I do not feel obligated to share in her vocation any more than she feels obligated to share mine. She is a member of the church like anyone else and serves only where her gifts make room for her. I am not called to be a cad draftsman and she is not called to be a pastor. I would consider it grossly unfair of my church to expect her to leave her calling (1 Cor. 7.20) to support mine as for her company to expect me leave mine to support hers.
You can take the one flesh application too far. For example, Ill bet your wife doesnt go to work with you (or visa versa) nor does your employer require that she work alongside you on your job. Why only require it of ministers if church members are exempt?
I have a degree in history and have Church History on a university level and, to my knowledge, no other generation in the history of the church has required this of the wives of pastors and no segment of the church requires it to this day, to my knowledge, except Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. It is relatively recent phenomenon without biblical basis or support.
Your church can do anything it pleases, of course, and I respect your autonomy whether I agree with you or not. What you do is absolutely none of my business, but the OP asked my opinion on Husband-Wife Co-Pastors? and I offered it.
\o/
Unfortionately, trying to explain things on these forums does not give the full view of how things really are. It's really not as bizarre as it may sound.
Nowhere did I say that one has to give up their jobs. . .I merely pointed out that they co-pastored. Neither did I say that it had to be done that way, I just pointed out that in my church and the ministry we are under that is how it's done. That does not mean she is doing the same duties but neither does it mean she just sits and watches as God uses him and not her. They work together. He treats her like gold and she responds like gold. That's pretty much how I see all of the set's of Pastor's that we have. To me they are a shining example of what "marriage" means. Again, not everyone has to do it the same way but it seems to work quite well in our group.
As God has led, these women have even preached, and done a very good job at it too. One of the sets of Pastor's he is a retired policeman and she is a school teacher. They both can teach, however, she is clearly the one with the gift of teaching. They have a Bible study at their home and she is the teacher. He teaches sometimes but mainly it is her. They lead together though. She is submissive to him as her husband and he treats her like gold and she responds to him as gold. They marriage counsil people together too.
The last AG I was in it was Husband and Wife Pastors. They worked together, yet had different things that each did. If you dissed her, you were dissing him. He preached mainly but also incouraged her in preaching. . .and she's good at it. He governed in the church politics (unfortionately, it was really the deacons who governed things), but they ministered together.
In the large Vineyard I attended, while he was the Pastor, his wife was in no way left behind while he ministered. With John and Margie, she could teach just as well as he did and while they did different things they worked together. The same was with Bob and Anna when they became the Pastor's.
In the church I attend, all the ministries where the person heading it is married, the spouse is part of it also. While it may not be spelled out for us in scripture, I think that Peter's wife may have had more input than we think. But if not, that does not mean that the wife can't be part of it if she and her husband desires.
I see no problem with how my church is doing things and the Bible. If anything I see a better heeding to the spouses treating each other with the respect that Biblically is commanded. No one is forced to do anything they don't want to do. There is incouragement to grow and mature in all ways for both. We do not allow a man or a wife to neglect their home to serve everyone else.
Again, I wish I could describe it better, you may agree with me more than you think if I could. It's not a hard fast rule either way in my opinion. I grew up with what you've described and seen total dissaray in a marriage. One of my best friends was married to asst Pastor (not at the church I attended) and they lost their first baby because he got mad and threw her up against the wall while she was pregnant. Then left to go "minister" to people at the church while she layed on the floor bleeding. The main pastor even counsiled him how to get out of the marriage and come out smelling like a rose with her looking like the louse.
It does not really matter to me either way. However God leads. I think the Bible gives us the guide line, yet does not forbid enclusion of the spouse in any ministry.
but that is ok.. I luv you anyway 
